My wife (28) and I (27) have been talking about investing for a while, and in the last month we took our first step. We met with an Edward Jones financial advisor and decided to place $5000 into a joint brokerage account; I also maximized my 2019 Roth IRA contribution with $6000. Both accounts are under Edward Jones' Guided Solutions program fee, which charges a 1.35% annual fee on the first $250,000 in the account. I'm also unsure how to go about understanding the costs of the various mutual funds in our holdings (list of holdings below). We did this with the notion in mind that it is better to get started somewhere with investing than stay paralyzed by choice and inexperience.

Thinking ahead, I'm wondering if there are options for investing that would reduce costs and allow for more growth in the longterm. I read some posts from this sub from several years ago of many folks switching from Edward Jones to Vanguard for lower costs (and participation in mutual funds that have lower expense ratios--I'm a little shaky on my understanding of expense ratios but know it's important). I'm wary of taking on a DIY approach because while I feel confident in my ability to learn more, I would prefer an approach that relies on established expertise, is lower stress, and has comparable returns. I have no interest in trying to beat the market shorterm, I just want to make the wisest decisions for money we have beyond our emergency fund. Any thoughts/advice would be appreciated!

Joint account holdings (designed for a 3-5 year time horizon, balanced for growth):

• American AMCAP CL F3

• American Bond Fund of America CL F3

• American Capital World Bond CL F3

• American Intermediate Bond Fund of America CL F3

• American International Growth and Income CL F3

• American Investment Company of America CL F3

• American New World CL F3

• American Smallcap World CL F3

• American Washington Mutal Investors CL F3

• Franklin US Government Money CL R6

Roth IRA (designed for 30 time horizon, all equity):

• American AMCAP CL F3

• American International Growth and Income CL F3

• American Investment Company of America CL F3

• American New World CL F3

• American Smallcap World CL F3

• American Washington Mutal Investors CL F3

• Franklin US Government Money CL R6

Hey all, mid 20s male who’s been investing with Edward Jones off my fathers recommendation since January 2021. I have around 64k saved from EJ, Roth IRA at 21k and 2 separate Single Accounts (38k and 4K), Roth and 1 of the Single accounts are on Guided Solutions Fund, last Single is Select. I was recently hired by a US employer that manages their 401k through Fidelity NetBenefits, and thinking about making the switch entirely. However I’ve read different opinions on here about EJ, where some see the value in an FA but most say that they are entirely useless.

I’m new to investing in this way, as EJ handled it all before. I’m trying to determine if EJ has been a net positive versus the S&P over the last 3 years. This years fees on the 38k account has 342.18, and the Roth 21.6k account YTD fees has been 206.02. What should I be looking at in the statement to determine valuation? If it makes it easier, what can I share on the statement that doesn’t identify my accounts because I’m worried about giving too much information.

Also the 42k in the Single accounts are saving up for a down payment on a house, what account or fund would that fall under when I switch over to fidelity? I’ll likely use that money for a house early next year.

Thanks.

We have several accounts with Edward Jones. A friend was our advisor and we were happy with his service and the performance of our accounts. Unfortunately, he was forced to “retire” and we ended up with accounts there but no advisor. We are in limbo waiting for their new advisor that was in training, which was already worrisome. It has been 3 months and our account is not being monitored, we have no advisor and I am worried about our accounts in general. We had some CDs mature in November and I didn’t realized the money is just sitting there and was not reinvested.

I would like to move our accounts but I am not sure about the ramifications of moving our accounts. Can we keep the portfolios we have? I imagine we would have to pay some fee, but would there be any tax penalties? We have Roth IRAs as well as some investments accounts.